Copper futures in New York ended falling as U.S. housing data and higher prices rose concerns about lower demand and as the dollar rallied.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said its February pending home sales index fell 1.9 percent to 84.6 from January, its lowest point in the current strained housing market.

Several analysts pointed the fact that Asian demand has slowed as prices of copper are relatively high, mainly from China which is the top consumer of copper in the world.

In the current year the red metal has climbed 28 percent and yesterday, futures were close to a new record high when the prices reached $4 a pound.

Copper futures for May delivery dropped 1.75 cents or 0.45 percent to $3.8730 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold and oil also ended up with declines today.

Some specialists attributed the declines on copper today to a profit-taking move from the record of $4.00 a pound yesterday.

Copper also declined as the dollar rose reducing investments into commodities as a hedge against inflation. The U.S. Dollar Index was at 72.232 today.

As of inventories, copper stockpiles monitored in the London Metal Exchange declined by 1,100 metric tons at 115,050 metric tons today.

China Copper Inflation